England edge ahead of Aussies in Champions Trophy betting

WITH the Australian cricket hierarchy still divided over wages, England have emerged as the punters’ pick for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.

Although they have never won the tournament before, the hosts have firmed into +275 for the title at online bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au.

They were previously joint favourites with Australia, who now hold the second line of betting alone at +300.

Punters are treading wearily around Steve Smith’s men as the pay dispute between the Australian Cricketers’ Association and Cricket Australia drags on.

Mitchell Starc revealed on Sunday that the players had full faith in the ACA and were fully focused on the task at hand.

“Our stance hasn’t changed,” he told reporters.

“Our full support is still behind the ACA to get the outcome that the players are after, it’s all about getting a fair share, we’re not asking for more.

“The men and the women are on the same page, we’re sticking strong together and that was pretty much the conversation we had today.”

Third in line are South Africa (+333), who have not played in a Champions Trophy final since winning the inaugural tournament back in 1998.

Defending champions India are hanging out at +450, although Virat Kohli’s form in the warm-up fixtures could see them shorten over the next few days.

The Indian skipper is Sportsbet’s +800 favourite to finish as the top runscorer for the tournament.

He shares that quote with David Warner, who comes in fresh off another sensational run in the Indian Premier League Twenty20.

Also in the mix are Quinton de Kock and Steve Smith at +1000, AB de Villiers and Joe Root at +1100, and Hashim Amla and Kane Williamson at +1200.

Starc is the unsurprising market-leader in the top wicket-taker betting at +700.

South African spinner Imran Tahir is next at +1200, alongside English all-rounders Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes.

2017 ICC Champions Trophy betting

Odds provided by Sportsbet

Outright winner

+275 – England

+300 – Australia

+333 – South Africa

+450 – India

+850 – New Zealand

+1400 – Pakistan

+2500 – Sri Lanka

+4000 – Bangladesh

Top tournament batsman

+800 – Virat Kohli, David Warner

+1000 – Quinton de Kock, Steve Smith

+1100 – AB de Villiers, Joe Root

+1200 – Hashim Amla, Kane Williamson

+1600 – Alex Hales, Jason Roy

+1800 – Rohit Sharma

+2000 – Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill, Chris Lynn

+2500 – Eoin Morgan

+3000 – Azhar Ali

+3300 – Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, Shikhar Dhawan, Tom Latham, Fa du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane

+4000 – Travis Head

+5000 – Niroshan Dickwella, Ahmed Shehzad, Ross Taylor

(More quoted)

Top tournament bowler

+700 – Mitchell Starc

+1200 – Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir

+1400 – Kagiso Rabada

+1600 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chris Woakes

+1800 – Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

+2000 – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch McCleneghan, Chris Morris, David Willey

+2500 – Mohammad Amir, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tim Southee, Mark Wood

+3300 – Andile Phehlukwayo, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Adam Zampa

+4000 – Lasith Malinga

(More quoted)